Would it matter if the skin was instead being used for transplants on burn victims? (Or others needing skin grafts or other organs for some medical reason.) Or is it that this smacks too much of experimenting on humans? If so, would any of these arguements/concerns map to the debate on the use of fetal stem cells or human clones in medical research in this country?

I appreciate the point, but China is known for jailing (and killing) people for speaking out against the government. Their human rights violations are WELL documented.

And this is a lot different than harvesting a week old embryo. Some would disagree with me on that, but oh well. I think the delta between the two is HUGE.

Concerning our relations with China, it’s tough since we’re so intertwined. Hopefully economic greed will stop behavior like this, but we’re talking about some amazingly awful stuff here. Using dead prisoner’s skin? Is that really the kind of government we want to be in bed with? I don’t think so. Better to enhance our relations with India and slowly, but surely, move our manufacturing over there. They can handle it, and they speak English too.

However, I realize that this is just wishful thinking.

(Given that China is still at least an authoritarian society, if not still a totalitarian society, this might really miss an essential point. After all, when you’re dead, you’re dead. Does it matter if you were executed for harvesting or for belonging to the wrong political party, religion, or other grouping?)

Would it matter if the skin was instead being used for transplants on burn victims? (Or others needing skin grafts or other organs for some medical reason.) Or is it that this smacks too much of experimenting on humans? If so, would any of these arguements/concerns map to the debate on the use of fetal stem cells or human clones in medical research in this country?

Perhaps we should be wary because of the health risks. Are products derived in this way safe to use?

A tricky issue! Also, in what way should we rethink our relations with China? Should we take a more hostile diplomatic position? If so, is this wise considering they are the only nation that can possibly rein in North Korea? (Even China may not be capable of doing this.)

Trying to restrict trade with China on any kind of large scale would also be problematic. They are probably more dependent on us than we are on them, but they do hold a lot of dolars in their banks. That grants them a special kind of leverage.